Device for restoring defective knitted fabrics



Feb. 9, 1954 G. T. SMITH 2,668,428

DEVICE FOR RESTORING DEFECTIVE KNITTED FABRICS vFiled oct. 2, 1952 Www j; /7 ATTORNEY;

Patented Feb. 9, 1954 DEVICE FOR RESTORING DEFECTIVE KNITTED FABRICS Gus T. Smith,v Paducah, Ky., assignor to Marvel Specialty Company, Paducah, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Application October, 1952, Serial No. 312,820

6 Claims.

|This invention relates to a device or mechanism to be used for the restoration to normal condition of an area of a knitted fabric which has been rendered defective because of the enlargement of one or more of the loops of such area.

n Patent No. 2,570,637, granted October 9, 1951, to Merle M. Brown, is disclosed an apparatus and method for restoring to original condition an area -of a knitted fabric a loop of which has become enlarged which those engaged in the manufacture of ne hosiery have found to have great utility. The larger quantity of stockings currently manufactured are fabricated of thread of thermoplastic nature, which softens when subjected to a mild degree of heat and re-hardens when the heat is removed. It has been found to be highly desirable to re-set, by the application of heat, any thread which has been restored to its original position in a knitted fabric, upon the completion of the operation of restoration. This is for the reason that the thread is kinked or curved in various Ways as a result of the accidental formation of a loop by pulling, followed by restoration and, even after restoration to substantially the same positi-on in the fabric which it originally occupied, the pulled portion of a thread may tend to depart from that position when the stocking or other article is worn unless remedial action is taken.

A restored loop may be permanently locked, so to speak, in its restored position by the application of heat immediately upon completion of the restoration operation, followed by cooling. Preferably, also, the application of heat is accomplished by a gentle ironing or smoothing operation, as by a smooth surfaced heat applicator. Devices for the application of heat yto fabrics for this and other purposes have heretofore been known and employed.

The present invention relates primarilyV to the combination of such a device with the mechanical means for effecting thread restoration whereby, immediately upon the restoration. of the thread to its original position after a dislocation or pulling the heat and ironing operation is almost instantly accomplished. Thus, in a preferred form of the invention the device comprises a handle which may be conveniently grasped by the operator, a head rotatably mounted upon the handle and carrying a circular series of narrow work engaging faces disposed in a plane and a heating element rigidly supported upon the handle and so related to the rotating head that, immediately upon the completion by the rotating head of its last thread restoring movement the heating element performs its essential operation, it being necessary only for the operator to continue the movement of the assembly in the path which it was following during the time that the nal phase of the thread restoring operation was being accomplished. In other words, the heating and ironing means of the device is intimately associated with the thread restoration means, moves with it at all times and functions immediately after the thread restoration means ceases to function.

The heating element embodies a work engaging surface which is preferably disposed in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane in which the circular series of work engaging faces of the thread restoring head are disposed, and the plane ofthe fabric engaging surface of the heating element is preferably arranged so as to be substantially tangent to the circular path in which the outer ends of the Work engaging surfaces of the thread restoring head move. When the improved device isvemployed a superior quality of work results because of the decrease in the time interval which must necessarily elapse between the completion of the thread restoration operation and the application of the heating element. When it is necessary for an operator to grasp a heating means which comprises a separate independently operable member, and apply it to the restored area of a knitted fabric, much time is lost and, as a result of the two movements made by the operator, i. e. the laying down of the thread restoring means and the picking up of the heating element, with one hand", the restored loop may recede from its fully restored position and thus, upon the application of heat, be not so perfectly positioned as it would have been had the heat been applied immediately after full and complete restoration of a pulled thread to its original position in the fabric.

The invention maybe incorporated in devices or mechanisms which vary somewhat in appearance and specificv relative arrangement of' operating parts and that form which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings is by way of example only.

Inzthe drawings:

Figure l top plan view of the device as. it would appear when placed in operative position over a monding cup-and during the time that the thread restoring head is functioning;

Figure 2 is a similar view, showing the device in its relation to a mending cup, at this stage of its operation, as it appears in end elevation;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing the device in a somewhat different relation to the mending cup, the thread restoring head having disengaged.- the area of fabric stretched over the mouth of the cup and the heating element being in engagement with this area;

Figure 4 is a section on line 4--6 of Figure 3 Figure 5 is a section on line tif-5 of Figure l; Figure 6 is a Section on line 6-6 of Figure 5; and

Figure 7 is a section on line 'I-l of Figure 5. The device essentially comprises the elongated, generally cylindrical handle indicated at It in the drawings, the rotating head Il mounted for rotation about the axis of the handle, together with the associated means for connecting the rotating head to a source of power, and the heating means which is generally indicated at I2 and which is rigidly affixed to the handle Iii. For a full description of the thread or displaced loop restoring head indicated at Il, and the manner of its use, reference may be had to Patent 2,570,637 previously mentioned. The rotating head comprises a hub I3 `from which radiate a circular series of equally spaced elements Ui, these being preferably .but not necessarily resilient, the head being adapted to be rotated in the operation of the device in the direction indicated by the arrows B in Figures 2 and S, the forwardly facing tips of the elements ifi being adapted to engage the fabric in rapid succession as the head rotates and to effect the thread restoration operation in the manner set forth in the patent identified.

The head includes a sleeve-like portion Eb by means of which it is rigidly mounted, with the aid of a set screw i3, upon the end of a spindle I1 which is operatively connected to the othern A wise free end of a flexible shaft, portion of which is indicated at 3 in Figure 4, the axis of spindle i1 being substantially coincident with the handle I0. Handle IU comprises two major cylindrical parts, the outer of which, indicated at I9, is prefl erably of metal and the inner cylindrical member, indicated at 20, being formed of an insulating material such as fiber or hard rubber. As clearly shown in Figure 4, the inner cylindrical or sleevelike portion 23 projects beyond one end of the outer sleeve I9 of the handle and it is upon this cylindrical. projecting portion of the sleeve 29 that the heating means is rigidly secured. Spindle Il' is supported for free rotation within the handle in bearings 2i and 22 and the rotating flexible shaft, of which one end I3 is visible in Figure 4, is housed within a flexible tube 24 provided with a tting 25 which enters the metal sleeve I3 of the handle and is received and tightly retained within a short tubular part 26 which is nested within the outer sleeve I9 of the handle.

The heating means I2 is shown most clearly in Figures 5 and 6 and is seen to constitute a. generally L-shaped member having an enlargement 2l which is cylindrically apertured at 28 for the reception of the projecting end of the insulating sleeve 2i! of the handle, being firmly retained in the position in which it is shown in the drawings by a set screw 29. The heating means l2 is disposed preferably at a-rightangle to the axis of handle I and comprises essentially the laterally projecting arm A having mounted in its outer end a. heating element 38, most clearly shown in Figures and 6. v

Heating element 3D preferably includes a tulio bular member 32 fabricated of brass or other suitable heat conducting metal, member 32 having one end closed by a preferably integral closure disc 32. Within the tubular member 32 is disposed a heating element 34 which may conveniently comprise a helical coil 35 of heat conducting material supported upon a ceramic heat resisting block 36. The skirt portion of member 32 is housed within a cylindrical recess formed in the end of arm A and that portion of the cylindrical sleeve 32 which projects from the recess in i which the heating element is housed is provided with an annular series of perforations 3l' for the escape from the interior of the heating element of heated air, thus preventing overheating of the instrumentality. Electrical conduits 33 and 39 lead from the heating coil 35 to a source of supply of electric current, these conduits extending through an elongated central duct o: extending longitudinally of the arm and communicating with a duct M which in turn is in communication with the duct 42 formed in the outer sleeve i@ of the handle, the wires 3B and 39 extending through duct 42 as shown in Figure 4. The arm A is fabricated of insulating material and is preferably provided with a plurality of apertures b the inner ends of which intersect the duct a so as to facilitate the flow of cooling air and thus prevent transfer of heat from the heating element to the handle, to the discomfort of the operator.

When in use the electrical conductors 38 and 39 of the instrument will be connected to a source of electrical power and the heating element 35 is so designed that, for the power input which is available, a heat of the desired intensity will be developed in the coil and transmitted through the disc-like member 32 to the fabric which has just been repaired, the temperature being carefully regulated by the use of resistance elements in the circuit so that the ironing face of the heating element will be neither too cool nor too hot, having in mind the nature of the thermoplastic material which is to be reheated and then allowed to set. The surface of disc 32' is polished and may with advantage be slightly convex. Substantially, however, this fabric engaging surface is in a plane which makes a right angle with the plane in which the several elements I4 are disposed and the arm A is so designed, and the heating element is so afiixed thereto, that the plane of the work engaging surface of the ironing disc 32 is approximately tangential to the circuit along which the tips of the elements i4 move when Vthe thread restoring head is in rotation.

Ordinarily, during operation of the device to restore to proper position a displaced thread, the apparatus will occupy a position somewhat like that in which it is illustrated in Figure 2, the handle having been rotated to such position that the fabric contacting surface 32 of the heating element is disposed above the plane of the fabric, this fabric F having been stretched over the mouth of mending cup M in the manner well known to those who operate pull-thread restoring instrumentalities of various kinds. The rotating head may be drawn across the fabric once, or a plurality of times, to eect a thread restoring operation, depending upon the severity of the thread displacement, all without contact between the heated ironing surface 32 of the instrument and the fabric. When the operator is moving the head over the fabric for the last time, however, he will prepare to lower the ironing element into contact with the fabric and this may be readily accomplished, at the proper instant in the travel of the device across the cup, by slightly rotating the wrist and hand holding the instrument. A single passage of the heated ironing means across the fabric is generally sufcient to accomplish the desired purpose and, when this passage has been completed, the work may be removed from the mending cup.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device for restoring knitted fabric, in combination, a rotatable head having fabric engaging surfaces disposed in a plane, a handle member upon which said head is mounted for rotation about an axis to bring said surfaces successively into Contact With the work., and a heating means having a fabric engaging surface, said heating means being also mounted upon said handle member, the head and heating means being so relatively positioned' that the operator may, while continuously moving the device in one direction, bring about completion of the operation of restoring a damaged area of fabric and, immediately thereafter, the application to said restored area of the fabric engaging surface of said heating means.

2. In a device for restoring knitted fabric, in combination, a rotatable head having fabric engaging surfaces disposed in a plane, a handle member upon which said head is mounted for rotation about an axis to brinDr said surfaces successively into contact with the work., and a heating means having a fabric engaging surface, said heating means being also mounted upon said handle member, said last mentioned sur face being disposed substantially at a right angle to the plane in which the fabric engaging surfaces of the head are disposed, the head an-d heating means being so relatively positioned that the operator may, while continuously moving the device in one direction, bring about completion of the operation of restoring a damaged area of fabric and, immediately thereafter, the application to said restored area of the fabric engaging surface of said heating means.

3. In a device for restoring knitted fabric, in combination, a rotatable head having fabric engaging surfaces disposed in a plane, a handle member upon which said head is mounted for rotation about an aXis to bring said surfaces successively into contact with the work, and a heating means having a fabric engaging surface, said heating means being also mounted upon said handle member, the fabric engaging surface of the heating means being disposed at an angle to the plane in which the fabric engaging surfaces of the head are disposed and is intersected by said plane, the head and heating means being so relatively positioned that the operator may, While continuously moving the device in one direction, bring about completion of the operation of restoring a damaged area of fabric and, immediately thereafter, the application to said restored area of the fabric engaging surface of said heating means.

4. lIhe combination set forth in claim 1 in which said handle member is generally tubular and includes inner and outer concentric cylinders. the inner cylinder being fabricated of insulating material and projecting axially beyond the end of the outer cylinder, the heating means being fixed upon the said axially projecting portion of said inner cylinder.

5. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which the handle is elongated and the heating means comprises an arm disposed at substantially a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the handle, and a heating element secured to said arm at the end thereof.

G. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which the fabric engaging surface of the heating means is normal to the plane in which the fabric engaging faces of the head are disposed, and substantially tangential to the circular path described by the outer ends thereof.

GUS T. SMITH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

